Legal Tips

Know your Rights!!!

Injury Victims

If you have been injured by someone else's conduct then you will have a right to compensation. That compensation includes lost wages, medical bills, mileage to and from Doctor appointments, pain and suffering and just about any out of pocket expense that was caused by the accident. From an Orthopedic chair or shoes to the new bed a doctor wants you to purchase becuase you now have a bad back.

What mandatory auto insurance laws exist in the state of New York?

Important inoformation if you are in a car accident!

In order to register your vehicle in the state of New York,you must obtain minimum liability insurance in the amounts of $25,000/$50,000 bodily injury liability, $25,000/$50,000 uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury, $10,000 for property damage, and $50,000 personal injury protection. There are no exceptions to this rule.
In the state of New York, all drivers must purchase auto insurance from a insurance company that's licensed with the New York State Insurance Department and you must carry proof of auto insurance at all times.
By law, New York auto insurance companies must notify the DMV when it issues a policy and when the policy ends. The insurance company must also notify the DMV if your insurance policy lapses.
Penalties for non-compliance with state of New York insurance laws include license suspension, you will lose your vehicle registration, you will be ticketed and fined, and your car could be towed and impounded. If you lose your vehicle registration due to lack of insurance for 90 days or less, your penalties will be between $8 and $12 for each day the vehicle was uninsured. What's worse is, a civil penalty for 85 days will cost you around $840.

What is the Minimum Liability Coverage (Bodily Injury amounts per person, per accident, and property damage amounts):

If you buy automobile insurance in New York, your policy must include minimum liability coverage of:

$25,000/$50,000 bodily injury liability,
$25,000/$50,000 uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury,
$10,000 for property damage,
and
$50,000 personal injury protection

Child Custody is a term that refers to the bundle of rights and responsibilities that a parent carries with respect to his/her child. Child custody includes numerous concepts; some of which overlap and some that are distinct. The term child custody can be further broken down into terms that shed additional light and provide a greater understanding of the respective parents' rights and obligations with respect to their common child.

Legal Custody is the parent with legal custody can make all decisions regarding the health, welfare and education of the child. A parent with legal custody can make decisions about schooling, religion, and medical care, for example. In many states, courts regularly award joint legal custody, which means that the decision making is shared by both parents.

If you sharejoint legal custody with the other parent you cannot exclude him from his rights. You won't get fined or go to jail, but it will probably be embarrassing because you'll have to go to the court -- which may harm the children.

The Joint Legal custody is where the children live with one parent (residential custodian) while the other parent has visitation rights. With Joint Legal Custody, both parents make the decisions on behalf of the children concerning health, education, religion and general welfare.

The Sole legal custody is when one parent has the right to make all the legal decisions regarding issues such as health, education, general welfare and religion but this type of custody is not very common anymore.

Tip on Divorce Proceedings:

Get from the beginning to the end as quickly as possible. People often get caught up in fighting costly 'battles' that really can't be won, or won't affect the outcome of the case. Divorce is a legal and emotional process; the healthiest thing to do for all involved is to short-circuit that process as much as possible. Not only will you and your children benefit emotionally, but you'll save thousands of dollars in legal fees and will move forward and in your life's new direction more simply and quickly.

Sexual Harrassment

Sexual Harrasment is a legal term, created for the purpose of ending harassment and discrimination against women in the workplace.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.

Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.